Qualcomm's interest in acquiring Intel is alleged to have cooled due to the deal's difficulties.

According to Bloomberg, the complexities of acquiring all of Intel have made a transaction less appealing to Qualcomm, who may instead consider buying bits of Intel or rekindling its interest later.

The firms did not respond to a request for comment on the Bloomberg report outside of normal business hours in the United States.

Qualcomm approached Intel in September to discuss a potential takeover, according to Reuters and other sources. A merger between the companies, which would be the largest in the sector, would undergo intense antitrust investigation around the world because it would bring together two major chipmakers.

Qualcomm was considering acquiring portions of Intel's design business, only days before allegations surfaced that Qualcomm was considering a bid for the entire company.

At the time, Intel stated that Qualcomm had not approached it about a potential acquisition, and Qualcomm declined to comment.

Intel, formerly the dominant force in chipmaking, has recently shed its manufacturing edge to rival TSMC and missed out on the generative artificial intelligence boom due to blunders such as passing up an investment in OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT.

The business lost its position in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia earlier this month, ending a 25-year reign. This year, Intel shares have fallen by more than 50%.